Time Off

Of the nearly 300 design projects undertaken by Arnold Palmer and his longtime associate, Ed Seay, Old Tabby Links stands out as the most compelling. Opened in 1994 in Spring Island, S.C., it ranks No. 96 on Golfweek's list of the best modern courses.

I must admit I've been treated royally during my stay here at Camp Ryabaga, above the Arctic Circle. In fact, I can't remember when I've been so pampered so far from home. Ten anglers fed by three chefs, looked after by four housekeepers, with five helicopter mechanics, a massage therapist and doctor on standby-30 staff altogether-evokes in one a blush of guilt. But one soon gets over it.

Switzerland is a paradox. It features breathtakingly pristine mountain, glacier and lake scenery alongside splendidly engineered craftsmanship, as evidenced by its watchmakers and prompt trains. A microcosm of Europe, it includes regions where you'll hear the languages of Germany, France and Italy, and discover the food, architecture and lifestyles of all those countries.

Your smileage may differ, but in the eyes and ears of this beholder, no car packs quite the visual and sonic punch of the Aston Martin DBS. From its wide crouch, broad haunches and wraparound tail lights to the subtle flares, flows, channels and curves downwind from its hallmark pinched-corner grille, the DBS is a riveting spectacle from any angle.

From June 15 to 21, the world's best golfers will be at Bethpage State Park in Farmingdale, N.Y., for the U.S. Open, the second major event of the season. This marks a return to Bethpage for the championship event, which the state park hosted in 2002. This year, as then, golfers will play the par-71 Black Course during the championship days (June 18 to 21).

Well into his 80s, Pete Dye keeps on surprising us. The railroad ties and island greens are long behind him, but even as the former insurance salesman finds himself among the latest inductees into the World Golf Hall of Fame, his renewed creativity continues to remind us what a refreshing art form golf course architecture can be.

World-class downhill slopes and chillingly steep "front four" mountaintop runs have made Stowe, Vt., a favorite destination for skiers. On a jaunt in summer, however, I discovered that this historic New England village has far more to offer than skiing. I also realized how dramatically the Green State differs from anywhere else in the country.

One piece of eggshell can spoil the enjoyment of a whole omelet, and that's how it was with my evaluation of the all-new BMW 750Li. While the car I tested had only 3,000 miles on the odometer, they had been accrued at the hands, and perhaps the leaden pedal feet, of the press corps in the American West.

As you head south from downtown Denver, the number of office complexes, shopping malls and other real estate developments gradually declines. You begin to see raw land and get a glimpse of what the region used to look like. And then, on the far side of suburban Parker, you come to pasture land, barrancas, scrub oaks and ponderosa pines.

On your approach to Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport, you'll gaze down on one of America's most historic landscapes, where gardens, vineyards and venerable country estates dot rolling hills and woodlands. On one hilltop, you'll spot an elegant, white-domed Palladian villa that mysteriously arrived from northern Italy and materialized here in the hills of central Virginia.

Quote/Unquote

“What we need to do is always lean into the future. When the world changes around you and when it changes against you—what used to be a tail wind is now a head wind—you have to lean into that and figure out what to do because complaining isn’t a strategy.
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